Synthetic analogues of the microbial metabolite SB-219383 have been synthesised with defined stereochemistry. Densely functionalised hydroxylamine containing amino acids were prepared by the addition of a glycine anion equivalent to sugar-derived cyclic nitrones. One of four stereoisomeric dipeptides incorporating these novel amino acids was found to be a potent and selective inhibitor of bacterial tyrosyl tRNA synthetase, suggesting analogous stereochemistry of the natural product. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.